Chapter 51 Vetoed the opening of the 9th congress in 1965

Journalist: “In 1965, the preparations for the ‘9th Congress’ were already completed. Did you veto it with a single vote and prevent it from being held?”

Mao: “Yes, it was decided in 1965 to hold the Party’s ‘9th congress”‘ and the Fourth National People’s Congress. Both conferences had been under preparation for half a year, and personnel arrangements had been finalized. They were waiting for my final approval. Initially, I agreed to hold the 9th Congress in October. However, at that time, I was planning to launch the Cultural Revolution, and holding the 9th Congress would not be conducive to my plans. Although the session of the 9th Congress had been delayed again and again, it was originally scheduled to be held in 1962 following the Party’s constitution, which states that the National Congress should be held every five years. In 1961, it should have been held, but due to the Great Famine, it was postponed to 1962, and then pushed to 1963 and 1964, but I did not relent.

By the spring of 1965, I had no further excuses to delay, so I reluctantly agreed to proceed with the preparations. Liu and Deng, with my consent, actively divided the work and began preparations. Delegates were also elected, waiting for my final approval of the meeting date for them to come to Beijing. By mid-September, I cited the numerous domestic and international events happening at the time (although there were no urgent matters to be resolved), and the unclear situation. I proposed conducting research first and holding the meeting in the spring of the following year. If they insisted on the original proposal, I would not attend. That’s how I suddenly issued an instruction and vetoed the two conferences that had been prepared for six months.”

Journalist: “Why do you want to veto it?

Mao: “I have always met my purpose, no my goal will not open. I opened the General Assembly to facilitate my launch of the Cultural Revolution, but at this time I launched a set of the Cultural Revolution is still immature, not ready, now open the 9th Congress rather conducive to Liu, Deng, they strengthen their power, I loosely promised to prepare is a last resort to deal with them, first ambiguous to let them empty busy a large burst, to the last moment I vetoed, not to attend, they also Nothing can be done, just a waste of their time, I have nothing to lose. I put down the opening of the 9th Congress and continued to plan the Cultural Revolution, which I had already drafted, and Liu and Deng were still in the dark, not knowing what anointing I was going to sell.

I do not move, in order to avoid Liu, Deng and their suspicions, I want to stabilize Liu Shaoqi, not only not alienate him, but also often find him to talk about things, almost every time he stayed for dinner, eat Hunan hometown bacon, black bean paste chili, Donganzi chicken, beef hundred leaves, so that everyone happy, he did not notice at all next year I will knock him down.

Journalist: “You do not follow the party rules at all? Not at all listen to the majority opinion?

Mao: “Yes, I always believe that the party constitution is dead, people are alive, I am talking about people, it is me, not what the majority, I do not care how many years the party constitution to open a congress, open a congress I am not to promote democracy, but for me to create momentum, tree my authority, I am interested to open, otherwise I will veto it. When Chen Duxiu was the general secretary for several terms, it was really democratic, and he held a party congress once a year. He was the general secretary for six years, and he held five congresses, and each meeting was really democratic, without any draft resolution or even a certain topic in advance.

In 1928, the ‘6th Congress,’ Stalin paid to transport the delegates to Moscow to open, that is completely controlled by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union congress, Stalin appointed Xiang Zhongfa as General Secretary, the following years in Jiangxi anti-encirclement, the Long March, the war environment is difficult to open, to say the least. To the north of Shaanxi to settle down, we said it should be opened, I have not been interested in dragging, dragged to 1941 is not good to delay, 500 delegates have been concentrated to Yan’an, but the most was I vetoed, I want to rectify the wind, then open the General Assembly to me no great effect, my authority is not mature tree up, open the General Assembly can not create momentum for me, the result I told 500 delegates to stay in Yan’an to participate in the rectification, after 2 years of rectification, rectification off More than half of them.

In 1945, when the ‘7th Congress’ was held, I felt that I had fully matured, that I had won the entire rectification, that my absolute authority was officially recognized through the Congress, that I was shouted long live, and that I was given the final veto power through resolutions. The ‘7th Congress’ became the milestone of my ascension to the peak of power, and at that time I was called ‘Emperor of the Communist Party’ and Emperor of the Communist Party.”

Journalist: “The 8th Congress was not opened until 1956, 9 years after the 8th Congress, why did it drag on?”

Mao: “After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, I didn’t see the need to hold the “Eighth Congress” on schedule. My position as the leader had already been established, and there was no need for a congress to boost my image. In the early 1950s, right after the establishment of the country, we focused on doing what needed to be done. However, Liu and Deng insisted on following the Party’s constitution and urged the congress to be held. It was eventually delayed until 1956 when I reluctantly agreed to hold it, but it was a passive decision. It wasn’t driven by any specific goals on my part. However, I was dissatisfied with the outcome. The congress criticized personality cult and removed the mention of Mao Zedong Thought.

Two years later, I decided to hold the Second Plenary Session of the Eighth Congress in 1958, where we overturned the resolutions of the first session. I asked Zhou Enlai to self-criticize for the “Great Leap Forward.” The purpose of convening the second session and bringing together 1,500 delegates in Beijing was to rally support for the Great Leap Forward. Shortly after the Second Plenary Session, the Great Leap Forward was fully launched.”